1. Technical Field
The present application relates to a beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage material having a machine for wrapping filled bottles.
2. Background Information
A beverage bottling plant for filling bottles with a liquid beverage filling material can possibly comprise a beverage filling machine with a plurality of beverage filling positions, each beverage filling position having a beverage filling device for filling bottles with liquid beverage filling material. The filling devices may have an apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined volume of liquid beverage filling material into the interior of bottles to a substantially predetermined level of liquid beverage filling material. The apparatus designed to introduce a predetermined flow of liquid beverage filling material further comprises an apparatus that is designed to terminate the filling of the beverage bottles upon the liquid beverage filling material reaching the predetermined level in bottles. There may also be provided a conveyer arrangement that is designed to move bottles, for example, from an inspecting machine to the filling machine. Upon filling, a closing station closes the filled bottles. There may further be provided a conveyer arrangement configured to transfer filled bottles from the filling machine to the closing station. Bottles may be labeled in a labeling station, the labeling station having a conveyer arrangement to receive bottles and to output bottles. The closing station and the labeling station may be connected by a corresponding conveyer arrangement.
On packaging machines, the packaging or flat material (e.g. packaging film) to be used is drawn off rolls and fed to the process sequence. When a roll that has just been in use is about to come to an end, the conventional practice to return the packaging machine to operation as quickly as possible is to keep at least one replacement or connecting roll in the supply unit, the flat material of which is then connected during a brief machine shutdown by means of a leader or connecting area to the flat material on the roll that was in use before the roll change, and specifically by connecting this connecting area with the flat material of the roll that was previously in use, and then by cutting through the flat material on this roll. Then the packaging machine can be restarted, whereby the flat material is then drawn off the connecting roll.
To achieve a secure connection and a smooth transition when changing a roll of printed packaging or flat material so that, among other things, the register and the distances between the printed images etc. on the packaging material can be kept constant even in the connecting area, in addition to a correct and accurately positioned stopping of the movement of the packing material of the roll that is in use, it is also necessary for the connecting area of the packaging material of the connecting roll to be accurately positioned in the connecting station where the connection is to be made. In the prior art, that means that after the insertion of a connecting roll into the supply unit, the connecting roll and its connecting area by which it is to be connected must be correctly oriented in the connecting station, which is a complicated process that takes a lot of time, especially on packaging machines that are still running and in particular given the very limited accessibility of the respective connecting station in systems of the prior art.